Like many a youth, I spent the post-potty-training, pre-tax-paying years of my life in a perpetual daydream, my days filled with "what if?" games like If you had all the money in the world… and If you could have any car…

One would think the former would be inclusive of the latter, but such is preadolescent logic. In retrospect, I imagine I kept the questions separate because as soon as my dad started playing along, I was guaranteed to lose the car game. Like any child of the 1970s, my sights were set on a Lamborghini Countach. "Impractical," my father would gruff. "Horrible rear visibility. Parking it would be a nightmare."

I cannot help but think that dear old pragmatic Dad might pooh-pooh the Halcro Logic SSP100 surround-sound processor. Not to imply that the SSP100 is impractical—far from it, in fact—but as with the Countach, its focus is more upon head-turning style and unbridled performance than on ease of use.

But I am getting ahead of myself. The day I unpack the SSP100 and accompanying Halcro Logic MC50 five-channel power digital amplifier, I immediately begin to rue the day on which I must return them. Set up is a breeze thanks to the SSP100’s integral LCD display and automatic channel level and delay configuration. After double-checking these automatic settings (which prove perfect), I slip Batman Begins into my DVD player to audition a scene or three. Before I know it, the final credits are rolling and I am wondering how badly my wife would hurt me if I were to send Halcro a check instead of returning the system.

Describing the Halcro gear’s sound with the printed word is like attempting to staple Grey Poupon to a slice of Gouda, but I shall try nonetheless. Of all the surround-sound electronics I have tested, only Lexicon’s rival the overall sense of scale, the detail, the warmth, and the neutrality that the Halcro gear brings to movie soundtracks. I get the sense that I am watching the DVD’s tale unfold not in a moderately sized media room, but in a majestic cinema. I truly feel the weight of the Dark Knight’s tank of a vehicle as it rumbles around my room. Dialogue seems to emanate directly from the characters’ mouths on screen.

Music fares just as well, whether it be in surround or stereo. When listening to the latest Nickel Creek CD, I am duly impressed by the rich bottom end—a characteristic for which digital amplifiers like the MC50 are lauded—but even more by the sparkling treble. Unlike many other digital amps, the MC50 delivers smooth high frequencies even at the most eardrum-shattering volume, thanks to the Lyrus distortion canceling circuitry developed by Halcro head physicist Bruce Candy. (How cool is it that Halcro has its very own physicist?)

Among the amplifier’s other refinements is Halcro’s Reliability Assurance Service (HRAS), which makes use of the MC50’s ethernet port to send an e-mail to your installer if an amp channel suffers a breakdown.

The SSP100 does not include HRAS, but it does feature four HDMI digital video inputs, as well as an internal scaler that upconverts any analog video signal to HDMI, in resolutions as high as 1080-line progressive scan. The advantage of the upconverter is that your installer can run a single HDMI cable to your display, and leave the display set to its HDMI input all the time. However, the SSP100’s internal scaler noticeably softens 480-line interlaced (480i) video, such as that from most standard cable boxes and PVRs; it also introduces some moiré (striping) effects in those signals. It is best to stick with progressive-scan video sources—although that is no problem these days.Slick as the SSP100’s sound is, the unit can be a bear to operate. Browsing through the menus of the beautifully styled touchscreen remote is almost as challenging as reading Finnegans Wake while inebriated. Find yourself in the wrong screen—which I do quite often—and you will be locked out of such basic tasks as adjusting the volume of the processor. One can control every function using the front-panel buttons and the volume knob, but the process is not intuitive. The front screen helps sometimes, but it works only with 480i sources. Granted, anyone with the means to acquire an SSP100 will likely add a more advanced touchscreen remote such as a Crestron or a Philips Pronto, which would alleviate most of these concerns. On the other hand, the SSP100’s remote is so potentially powerful, the fact that it is not more useful is disappointing.

Do the sound and style of the Halcro system outweigh the operational eccentricities of the processor? For a no-nonsense fellow like my father, probably not. For those more concerned with performance than ergonomics, though, I offer but one caveat: Once you sample the sweetness, warmth, and realism of this combo’s sound, the processor’s occasional capriciousness may seem a trivial matter.

DESCRIPTION
SSP100: THX-certified surround-sound processor. Decodes surround sound and stereo, controls volume, routes audio and video from source devices (DVD, satellite TV, etc.) to TV and amplifier; switches and upconverts video to HDTV resolution
MC50: Multichannel amplifier; provides five 350-watt channels of amplification

AUDIO MODES
Direct, Mono, Stereo, Stereo 96, Dolby Digital and Pro Logic IIx, DTS, ES and Neo:6, all THX Ultra2 modes, Natural, Party, Club, and Concert

CONNECTIONS
SSP100: Front panel: Two 1/4-inch headphone jacks, one 1/4-inch jack for microphone input (for auto setup), USB port for computer interface, one RS-232 connection for touchscreen remote control. Rear panel: Four HDMI digital video inputs, four component video inputs, six S-video inputs, six composite video inputs, 10 stereo analog audio inputs, stereo analog input for Tape, AES/EBU digital audio input, four coaxial digital audio inputs, two Toslink optical digital audio inputs, two 7.1-channel analog audio inputs for DVD-Audio/SACD (one RCA-type, one balanced XLR), two 7.1-channel analog audio outputs (one RCA-type, one balanced XLR), one Toslink digital audio output, RCA-type outputs for auxiliary channels 9 and 10, two additional subwoofer outputs (RCA-type), two stereo analog audio outputs (RCA type) for recording, stereo analog output for Tape, stereo analog output for second zone, HDMI output, component video output, four composite video outputs, three S-video outputs, two 3.5mm jacks for IR input, three 3.5mm jacks for DC triggers, two USB ports for computer interface, one RS-232 connection for touchscreen remote control
MC50: Five RCA-type analog audio inputs, five XLR balanced inputs, five five-way binding posts for speaker cable connection, one 1/8-inch minijack for DC trigger, one ethernet port for computer interface and HRAS communication, one RS-232 connection for touchscreen remote control

DIMENSIONS
SSP100: 7 x 17 x 16 inches (hwd)
MC50: 7 x 17 x 16 inches (hwd)

PRICE/CONTACT
PRICE: SSP100 $9,900, MC50 $5,990
CONTACT: 702.270.9307, halcro.com